ACSH on antibiotics
(Continued from Page D 4)
These statutory requirements also
regulate their handling, their
distribution, and the intimate
details of their legal use down to
the individual farmer or grower.
AHI, in cooperation with both
representatives of animal
producing groups and the United
States Department of Agriculture,
is also continually engaged in
successful efforts to assure the
proper, and not the ‘in
discriminate,’ use of antibiotics
and other animal drugs,” AHI told
Secretary Heckler.
A new antibiotics report, con
ducted by the American Council on
Science and Health (ACSH),
concludes: “The use of antibiotics
as animal feed additives has not
been shown to be a human health
threat, Consumers would pay
substantially more for meat and
poultry if the use . . . was discon
tinued.”
The ACSH study directly ad
dresses the fears for human health
raised by critics.
“The dire consequences that
some people have predicted for the
past IS or 20 years simply have not
come about,” writes Dr. E.M.
Foster, director of the Food
Research Institute, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, and a member
of the ten-scientist panel that
reviewed the ACSH report.
The question of a theoretical
health risk from feeding an
tibiotics to farm animals is ad
dressed by ACSH associate
director Dr. Richard A. Green
berg.
“We don’t have to rely on theory
alone to determine whether this
risk is a significant one. We also
have a large body of evidence from
practical experience,” Greenberg
asserts. Greenberg co-authored
the report with Kathleen A.
Meister, M.S., an ACSH research
associate.
“The widespread use of low
doses of antibiotics in animal feeds
during the past three decades has
provided us with a ‘natural ex
periment’ on an enormous scale,”
Dr. Greenberg explains. “The
thirty year record of safety that
has come out of this ‘experiment’
is strong evidence in favor of
permitting the addition of an
tibiotics to livestock and poultry
feeds to continue.”
“I want to emphasize that this
does not deny the existence of a
potential risk of great concern,”
said Dr. Fergus M. Clydesdale,
professor of Food Science and
Nutrition at the University of
Massachusetts and a reviewer of
the ACSH report. “However, it
does make possible the difficult
- Lancaster Farmihg, Saturday, June9,l9B4—Ds
task of examining a benefit-risk
equation for antibiotics in feed.
The benefits are cost savings and
the potential for more food in a
world that has just seen the largest
population increase in history. The
rides are theoretically valid and
important to consider but have not
been supported by thirty years of
experience. Therefore, it would
seem that the benefit side of the
equation should be favored,”
concludes Clydesdale.
ACSH is an independent, non
profit consumer education
/ IT’S MAGIC /—A PHONE
How quickly C V
| You Get Results or 717-626 1164
(I if
organization promoting what it
describes as “scientifically
balanced evaluations of food,
chemicals, the environment, and
health.” ACSH has offices in New
York, New Jersey, and
Washington, D.C.
A single complimentary copy of
the ACSH report “Antibiotics in
Animal Feeds: A Threat to Human
Health?” can be obtained by
sending a self-addressed, stamped
(37' postage), business-size (#10)
envelope to ACSH, 47 Maple Street,
Summit, New Jersey 07901.
Wortiif
Uiit
0» Display
ESHLAND Wood GCn
• Eliminates Creosote Build-up
• Lower Fuel Consumption
• 84% Wood, 85% Oil Efficiency
• Available in sizes from 80,000 to
500,000 BTU/hr with auto, oil backup
By using dense refractory material, com
plete combustion occurs at temperatures
exceeding 2000°F. No smoke... No creo
sote bulld-up!
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SYSTEMS
Allen Lawver
504 E. Main St., New Holland, PA 17557
PH: 717-354-0412
★ FREE HEATING SURVEY & ESTIMATE *
EAR CORN
Paying Top Prices For
Good Quality Ear Corn
• Wet or Dry
• No Quantity too large
or too small
• Fast Unloading -
Dump on Pile & Go
• Easy access - 2.2
miles off 283 bypass-
Manheim, Mt. Joy
exit
• Daily Receiving 7:30
A.M. to 5 P.M. - un
loading evenings &
Saturdays by appt.
• Trucks available for
pick up at your farm.
Call Anytime For Price
717-665-4785
JAMES E. NOLL GRAIN